An Unromantic Romance
by jublke
Summary: Ryan and Natalia struggle to make the transition from friends to lovers. Set late in the series or just after. Possible spoilers for "Nailed", "One of Our Own", and "In the Wind."
1. Chapter 1

A note to the reader: If you are looking for a warm, sensual, and/or smutty romance, stop right here. Don't bother reading any further because this isn't one. This is a story about how awkward it can be to turn a friendship into a relationship. And who better to be awkward in a relationship than Boa Vista and Wolfe? ;)

I felt compelled to write this after reading the many lovely DuCaine fanfics out there. Don't get me wrong - some are beautifully written, and the pairing is growing on me. But after so many loving glances and sensual touches, moonlit walks on the beach and candlelit dinners, I was struck by just how damned perfect all of these interactions were. Real life isn't like that. Real life is messy. And so, I felt compelled to write an anti-romance romance. Because even when everything goes wrong, two people can still love each other and that love is just as beautiful.

I own none of _CSI: Miami_. Clearly, if I did, the show would have prominently featured RaiN (BoaWolfe, Wolvista, RyanxNatalia, or what have you). My thanks to Gooniegirl3333 for beta reading and to my husband for proofreading for me. Any random goofiness or remaining errors are mine.

* * *

"Ryan!" He felt a hard poke to his ribs. "Roll over! You're snoring."

The dark-haired CSI curled the other direction in the small bed to face his girlfriend. "Was not," he mumbled. Yawning, he stretched and sat up next to her. "I wasn't even asleep. How could I be, when you still have the light on?" He gave her a gentle poke.

Natalia looked up from the book she was reading with a frown. "I can't sleep with you snoring like that." She dropped her eyes back to the page and gave him another shove. "Go take an antihistamine or something."

Ryan gave her a cross look, which she completely missed as she was engrossed in her novel. He snuck a peek at the cover. A scantily clad couple straddled the book jacket surrounded by what appeared to be a bed of roses. He rolled his eyes. Slipping out of bed, he winced slightly when his left foot touched the floor. He'd twisted his ankle earlier that day chasing a suspect and it had stiffened up. It didn't help any that Natalia had set the thermostat in her apartment to subarctic conditions, and as a result, the hardwood floors were freezing. He wrapped his arms around his waist, shivering in his boxers, and wondered aloud if he should put on his flannel pajama bottoms for the short walk to the bathroom.

"Oh, please." Natalia didn't even look up from her book. "It's not that cold in here."

He narrowed his eyes to glare at her, but it didn't help much. Without his contact lenses in, the double vision that had plagued him since the nail gun injury returned, and he found it hard to focus.

Sighing, he made his way across the cold wooden floor to the even colder bathroom tile. Squinting into the medicine cabinet, he called out, "Hey Nat, where do you keep your allergy meds?" Her entire supply of toiletries was one big jumble, setting his chattering teeth on edge. He had to fight the urge to take everything out and reorganize it.

He heard her slam the book shut before she stormed across the room to join him in the bathroom. "Honestly, Ryan," she snapped, reaching past him to the closest shelf and grabbing the medicine. "It's right here." She slapped the pill bottle into his palm. "If it was a snake -"

"... it would have bitten me. I know." He read the dosing instructions with one eye shut, hoping he wouldn't suffer any ill side effects. Ryan wasn't opposed to taking an antihistamine - he was worried that he might be allergic to something in her apartment anyway - but he hated changing brands.

Focusing on the label, he wasn't aware that Natalia had remained standing right next to him until she spoke. "Ryan, is something bothering you?"

He looked up at her, right eye nearly closed. "I'm fine." At the look she was giving him, he blinked open both eyes. "What?"

"Oh, nothing." Natalia crossed her arms over her pink satin baby doll pajamas and glared at him.

He resumed reading the antihistamine label, but it was much harder to see using two eyes. He sincerely hoped he wouldn't die from the medication.

"Seriously, Ryan?" She grabbed the bottle from him, popped open the lid, and took out one tablet. "It's not going to kill you." She handed him the pill and he stared at it for a long moment before he swallowed it, reluctantly, with a handful of water from the tap. When he turned away from the sink, she was already crawling into bed and turning out the lamp on her nightstand.

As he made his way across the room in the dark, his left big toe came into contact with something hard, probably one of the boots she had irresponsibly left in the middle of the floor. The jarring caused his injured ankle to flare with pain.

"Ow!"

The lack of a compassionate response - or any response, for that matter - from the woman in bed surprised him. All night, it seemed, she'd been frustrated by his presence. Finally, he'd had enough. He sat down on his side of the bed, as far away from Natalia as possible without sitting on the floor, and snapped on the nearest lamp. "If you don't want me here, why don't you just say so?" The words came out in an angry rush.

She sat up and turned on her own bedside lamp. "Me?" Her voice practically squeaked with anger. "You haven't touched me all night! I bought this nightgown especially for you!"

He rose to standing and began to pace. "I can't do anything right tonight as far as you're concerned. Why should I even bother?"

"It's not like I'm asking for much," she declared, pouting. "It's like you can't stand to look at me."

He stopped mid-pace and turned toward her. Folding his arms, he admitted in a low voice, "'Talia, I can't see you very well. I took out my contacts."

Her forehead crinkled. "You wear contact lenses? Why don't I know that?"

Ryan stared at two images of the floor. "No one at work knows, except H. I've had double vision ever since the nail gun injury. I've got corneal scarring on my right eye."

"Is it permanent?" Her voice, hesitant and laced with concern, touched Ryan's heart. He nodded at her.

"But you can correct that with lenses?" she asked.

"Mostly." He shrugged. "It left me with some irregular astigmatism in that eye. I see a lot better with contacts than glasses." Rubbing his eyes, he walked slowly back to bed, favoring his left ankle. "But I almost never wear my glasses out in public anyway. The 'scripts for my eyes are so different, it looks kinda weird. The last thing I need is IAB looking into my medical records."

"Why're you limping like that?" He sat down on the bed and she reached out to him, stroking his back.

"I twisted my ankle this afternoon going after that shooter."

Her hands deftly travelled down his leg and gently inspected his left foot. "It's a little swollen," she commented. "You want me to get you some ice?"

He locked eyes with her as best he could. "Yeah, that'd be nice."

Natalia returned a few minutes later with a bag of ice wrapped in a soft towel. She sat back down on his side of the bed, near his feet, and gestured at him to put his injured ankle on her lap.

He blushed at the attention and caught her wrist with his own. "You don't have to do that."

She gave him a hard look and pointed at his foot. "I want to." Wincing, he carefully maneuvered his leg so that it rested on the pillow in her lap and she placed the bag of ice gently above the arch of his foot. He smiled as the pain lessened. "And now that I have your attention," she said, "we need to talk."

 _We need to talk._ The very words filled him with dread. Was she kicking him out for the night? Breaking up with him for good? They'd only been dating a few weeks. He crossed his arms and nodded warily. "Okay."

"Ry, we've been at odds with each other all night." She sighed. "And it's all your fault."

"My fault? Oh, really?" He gave her his best skeptical look, the one he usually reserved for suspects that were lying to him.

She looked down at his ankle and readjusted the ice pack. "If you'd just been honest with me, this whole night could have been avoided."

"Like you were listening to a word I said."

She frowned at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's freezing in here, Nat," he complained. "And when I told you, you just acted like I wasn't man enough or something."

She removed the ice pack and reached over to hand him the extra quilt folded at the foot of her bed. "Sorry."

She didn't sound that sorry to him. Wrapping the quilt around his shoulders, he gestured at her to put the ice back on his ankle before he went on. "When I couldn't find that medicine, you flipped out on me. You know I have OCD. It's hard for me to find anything when things are disorganized, much less relax in a new place. It's not like you went out of your way to make me feel comfortable here."

"It would have been a hell of a lot easier if you told me how you were really feeling. Am I supposed to guess when you're hurt?" she asked, gesturing at his foot. "And when were you planning to wear your glasses in front of me? On our wedding night?"

He looked up at her in surprise, amused at the blush rising on her cheeks as she realized what she'd said. Reaching over, he grasped her hand and gave it a squeeze. "So you don't mind being with a guy who snores sometimes?"

"I'll just take out my hearing aid." She flashed him a wicked grin before looking down at their clasped hands. In a wistful voice, she added, "As long as you don't mind being with a girl who's better at reading about romance than living it."

He returned her mischievous smile. "The night's still young." Leaning forward, he caressed her cheek before kissing her tenderly. Nuzzling her face, he whispered, "My ankle's feeling better and I don't really need to see you in the dark." When he leaned back to turn out the reading lamp on his side of the bed, she giggled.

"I guess you have a point." Careful not to jostle his ankle, she set aside the ice pack and crept up the bed. After turning out the other lamp, she snuggled in next to him.

He wrapped his arm around her and squeezed. "'Talia," he murmured, kissing her temple, stroking her wavy hair. "We're quite the pair, aren't we?"

She laughed softly and crawled over him to straddle him. "We can be," she breathed, placing her hands on his broad chest. He wrapped his strong arms around her, and their night together finally began.

* * *

Another (Overly Wordy) Author's Note (with some spoilers for Season 4):

First off - mandatory disclaimer - I am not a doctor. Personally, I think Ryan would have been left blind in one eye after Season 4, but since he seems okay on the show, I think this is a fairly reasonable explanation of his eye troubles. I've wondered, if he didn't have keratitis, why did he flip out so bad on Dan in "One of Our Own"? My best explanation is that he didn't want anyone digging around in his medical records because he had something else in there to hide, such as corneal scarring.

According to the Miami-Dade Police Department website - which I referenced because I'm a geek like that - minimum police officer requirements state that you need no worse than 20/100 vision uncorrected, down to 20/30 or better with lenses. It's not clear if that's with both eyes together or separate. (The City of Miami's requirements - at least on their website - are stricter; you need no worse than 20/50 vision in each eye uncorrected to become a police officer, with correction to no worse than 20/30.)

So, where would Ryan fall? Let's assume worst case for Ryan and these requirements apply throughout your career. Even if he could technically squeak by, with story I laid out here, I would assume double vision without lenses to be an automatic disqualifier. If it only happens when he's tired, maybe he'd have a shot at passing whatever vision test he had to take, but I'm thinking corneal scarring would be visible to anyone who gave him a complete eye exam. Now, could H somehow help Ryan keep this quiet? You bet. Which is why I couldn't even get Ryan to put his glasses on the nightstand in my fanfiction. He's pretty stubborn when he wants to be. ;)


	2. Chapter 2

There is no good reason for extending this story, but this chapter was fun to write! :D Not sure where I'm heading with this, but there will be at least two more chapters.

My thanks to Gooniegirl3333 for beta-reading and to anitra mason 1 for commenting.

* * *

When Ryan woke up the next morning, two distinct sensations vied for his attention. The first was the gritty feeling of his irritated eyes. The second - two warm bodies snuggled happily next to him - woke him up in a hurry.

 _Natalia's spooned against my right side, so who's on my left?_

A pair of wide blue eyes met his bloodshot hazel ones. "Meow," said the cat, pawing at his cheek.

Ryan was so startled that he leapt out of bed - "Aaaah!" - which caused the cat to twine around his legs and purr. He narrowly missed stepping on the animal and came down hard on his injured foot. "Yowch!"

Natalia awoke to find Ryan on the floor in a heap, sneezing, one hand over his nose and the other clutching his left ankle. Zöe sat off to the side, innocently grooming a furry white hind leg.

The brunette tipped her head to one side with a bemused expression. "Ryan?" The look he gave her wiped all traces of humor from her mind. She quickly slipped on her pink satin robe, grabbed a tissue box, and hurried over to him.

He took a tissue gratefully, blew into it, and then removed a second tissue and neatly folded it around the first. When he spoke next, it was with the slight lisp one gets from a clogged nose. "You never told me you had a cat." He winced and rubbed his instep.

"Ryan, meet Zöe. Zöe, Ryan."

He rolled his eyes at her lame attempt at defusing the situation. The cat ignored them both.

"I take it you're allergic," she said, handing him another wad of tissues.

He nodded. "It's not too bad unless they sleep on my head." Ryan shrugged, blinked his eyes, and squinted at her.

Natalia's own eyes widened when she caught sight of Ryan's impaired hazel ones. "Does cat hair always affect you that bad? Because your eyes are bright red."

"Only if I get fur in my eyes." His voice was rough and he sneezed again, followed by a shudder and another wince.

"I'm sorry, Ryan," she said contritely. "I didn't know you were allergic. I didn't expect her to come in here at all with you around. She was scared of Nick."

He raised his gaze to hers and gave her a faint smile. "Cat's got good taste." Noticing Natalia's unease, he added, "I like cats, Nat. I just can't sleep in the same room with one."

His girlfriend finally returned his smile. "Okay. I'll keep her out of here from now on," she said, shooing the cat from the room as she spoke. "But only because I like you so much." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "C'mon. Let's get going. Our reservation at Caruso's is in two hours and I, for one, want to enjoy our day off." Natalia bounded toward the bathroom.

Ryan remained on the floor, clutching his ankle in a death grip. "Yeah, about that ..."

The brunette peeked back in, hairbrush in hand. "What did you say?" She adjusted her hearing aid and looked at him expectantly.

"Can you help me up?"

Natalia dropped the brush with a clatter and hurried back to Ryan's side. "God, Ry, I didn't know it was that bad. What happened?"

With Natalia there to steady him, Ryan was able to get his good leg under himself and rise to standing. Leaning heavily against her, he limped to the bed. Once seated, with his left leg propped up, he gave her a wan smile. "Thanks."

She spread her arms wide and studied him with a frown, willing him to answer her question.

Ryan shrugged. "I don't know. My ankle was sore last night but it wasn't like this. I can't put any weight on it now." He looked away and bit back a curse as she inspected his swollen foot. In a small voice, he added, "When I jumped out of bed, the cat tripped me and I twisted it again."

Natalia stood back, arms folded, and regarded him. "You need to see a doctor, Ry. That looks bad. Stress fracture, maybe?"

"Maybe." He stared at the floor. "I'm sorry, Nat. I know this wasn't how you planned to spend our day off."

"That's okay." She sat down, threw an arm around him, and squeezed him tight. "I'm sorry, too, Ryan. I love Zöe. I didn't realize she would be a problem for you." Natalia placed her head on Ryan's shoulder and they sat like that for some time. Finally, she turned to her boyfriend. On seeing his face, she shook her head. "Your eyes look awful, Ry. You have any eye drops?"

"At home," Ryan said, closing his eyes. The pain in his ankle was wearing on him, and he was starting to feel nauseous. "I think I need to go to the ER, Nat. Can you help me get dressed?"

Her eyes widened at his vulnerable admission and she began to scurry around the room, digging into his duffel bag after she dressed herself. He tried not to notice the mess she was making of his neatly packed clothes. "Here," she said, throwing a pair of jeans and a dress shirt in his direction.

He caught the shirt one-handed and put it on, but let the pants fall to the bed. "Jeans are a bad idea," he said, frowning. "Maybe sweats?"

Natalia chewed her lip. "I have a pair of Nick's around here someplace."

"Perfect," Ryan spoke with a touch of anger. "When we cut the left leg open, maybe the evil will drain out."

She rolled her eyes but got the sweatpants from her closet anyway and handed them to him. "It's either this or your pajamas." He studied the offending item with a puzzled look on his face. At his unspoken question, she replied, "I wore them over my clothes the last time I painted the apartment."

He stared down at the paint-splattered grey sweats with a hole in one knee and quirked an eyebrow at her, a gesture she ignored. She helped him to ease the left leg of the sweats over his injured foot, a process that was clearly painful, despite his best efforts to hide it. "Maybe we should wrap your ankle before we go," she suggested.

Ryan shook his head. "Let's just go. Can you bring me my keys and my contacts? They're in my backpack."

After a few minutes of intense rummaging - during which Ryan again tried to ignore the chaos his girlfriend was causing to his carefully-ordered life - Natalia handed him the keys and a small plastic case with some hesitancy. "Ryan, have you seen your eyes?" At his quick shake of the head, she returned with a hand mirror. "I don't think you should put your contacts in when your eyes look like that."

Ryan took the mirror and frowned unhappily at his blurry reflection. The whites of his eyes were practically pink. He had to admit, she had a point. The last thing he needed was for his contacts - especially his expensive, specially modified right lens - to become saturated with cat dander.

He handed the mirror back to her and shoved the contact lens case into his pocket. "You'll have to drive then. I'm seeing two of everything."

She tossed the mirror on the bathroom counter - narrowly missing seven years of bad luck when it didn't break - and gave him an amused smile. "Ryan, you weren't driving anyway."

He didn't return the smile. "I've got you boxed in, remember? I have to move my car. Unless you learned to drive stick overnight."

Natalia groaned. "Why didn't you bring the Hummer?" she complained.

Ryan didn't bother to answer. Taking a departmental vehicle home was perfectly acceptable when you were working late on a case, not so great for your day off. Ryan's compact car - which barely fit two people - was parked directly behind Natalia's in the driveway, effectively blocking her exit.

"I'll call Eric," Natalia decided, reaching for her cell phone.

"You are not calling Delko!" Ryan bellowed. He wiped the sweat from his brow and shivered.

She eyed him with a determined set to her jaw. "Ryan, have you got a better idea? You're not looking so good and I'm going to need help getting you to the car anyway. Do you want me to call a bus?" she said, using their slang term for an ambulance.

Ryan set his lips in a thin line. "You want to broadcast to the whole department that we're dating?"

She threw her hands in the air. "Fine! What do you want me to do?"

"Help me up."

Somehow, the two of them managed to hobble - slowly, and with several rest stops - toward the driveway. Ryan was sweaty, shaking, and miserable by the time she deposited him in the driver's seat of his small car.

He put his hands to his face, massaged his temples, and tried to take a deep, calming breath. It was no use. He couldn't do this. The driveway was sloped, necessitating use of the brake, and there was no way he could push in the clutch with his injured ankle. He wasn't in any condition to teach Natalia how to do it. There had to be some other way - _I must be missing something!_ \- but he just couldn't come up with anything. His foot throbbed in pain from being jostled and he was having a hard time thinking clearly. Lost in his misery, it was quite a while before he realized that Natalia was on the phone.

"... really appreciate it," she was saying. "Thanks."

He narrowed his gaze after she hung up. "Who was that?"

"Your ride. Give me your keys. I'm going to go to your apartment and get some of your things so you can stay with me for awhile. I'll meet you at the hospital."

He openly gaped at her. "But -" _We are so not ready for this!_

She threw her hands up and let out a gusty sigh. "Ryan, be reasonable! You can barely walk on flat ground. Your apartment's up two flights of stairs."

He nodded and tried to concentrate as he handed over his keys. "Okay. You know what I like to wear to work. Get me a few more pairs of pajamas. My robe. Some pants with wide legs or sweats. My glasses are on the dresser in the bedroom. Grab all of my allergy stuff from the medicine cabinet. Water the plants." He locked eyes with her. "And feed Henry."

"Henry?"

"My pet rat."

Natalia shuddered and all of the color drained from her face. "You're kidding me, right?"

Her boyfriend shook his head. "His food's on the counter by the cage in the living room ... you can just drop it in." Ryan's eyes closed; he had begun wincing between each breath. "Make sure ... he's got water."

Natalia rubbed his arm soothingly. "They'll be here soon."

He cracked his eyes open. "My taxi?"

"Eric and Calleigh."

Ryan dropped his head on the steering wheel in frustration, accidentally honking the horn. "Great. Kill me now."

* * *

Author's note: I had already written _Wrong Number_ before I saw Ryan's ground floor condo in 8x23 "Time Bomb." So, I decided to keep him in the third floor apartment that I gave him in my earlier story.


	3. Chapter 3

My thanks to Gooniegirl3333 for beta-reading and to CSIMiamiFAN and anitra mason 1 for commenting on the previous chapters. :)

* * *

Ryan was still sitting helplessly in the front seat of his car with Natalia standing at his side, rubbing his shoulder, when Eric pulled up in the Hummer. Calleigh jumped out of the passenger's seat and hurried over to Natalia. The women greeted each other with a hug.

"Thanks for coming," Natalia said, as Ryan stared at the ground, wishing it would swallow him whole. "I'm sorry we interrupted your lunch."

"It's no problem." Calleigh, as always, replied with a smile. "We were just heading out when we got your call." She turned her attention to Ryan as Eric hopped out of the Hummer and came bounding up. "Hey, Ryan."

Both Calleigh and Eric jumped back when Ryan raised his head.

"Damn, Wolfe." Eric stared at Ryan's face. "What happened to your eyes?"

"Nice to see you too, Delko," Ryan muttered.

"It's my cat," Natalia began. "Ryan's allergic to her and I didn't know -"

"Natalia -" Ryan sounded a warning.

She shot him an exasperated look. "They already know we're dating, Ryan. What difference does it make?"

If it was possible, Ryan hung his head even lower, prompting Calleigh to reach over and pat his arm affectionately. "All right," the blond said, "So what's the plan?"

Natalia took charge. "Ryan, you're riding to the hospital with Eric." This prompted a low moan from Ryan and a slight chuckle from the Cuban. "Calleigh, since you can drive a stick, you take Ryan's car and follow me to his place. We'll drop his car off there while I get his things and then I can drive you over to the hospital to meet Eric. Maybe you two can still squeeze in lunch if we hurry."

"Sounds good to me," Calleigh said. She and Eric helped Ryan up and got him into the Hummer, and soon three vehicles were speeding away from Natalia's apartment.

* * *

"So, you and Natalia?" Eric gave his co-worker a sidelong smile as he slipped beneath the wheel and put the key in the ignition.

Ryan sat seething in the passenger seat of the Hummer. _Why couldn't I have ridden with Calleigh or Natalia? They would have babied me, but they wouldn't have teased me like this. Natalia already confirmed that we're dating, so why is he asking?_

There was simply no good way to respond to that question. If he encouraged Eric with a positive reply, it would just lead to more questions about the status of his relationship with Natalia, most of which Ryan couldn't answer even if he wanted to, which he didn't. But if he didn't respond, word might get back to Natalia that Ryan was having second thoughts about dating her. He settled for a curt nod of the head.

"It's about damn time." As Ryan whipped his head up to stare at Eric, the older man continued. "There's a betting pool at work on when the two of you are gonna seal the deal." As the younger man's mouth fell open, Eric chuckled. "You are so gullible, Wolfe."

"Shut up, Delko." Ryan twisted in the seat, trying find a more comfortable way to rest his injured ankle, but any movement caused him a great deal of pain. He thought he was doing an admirable job of concealing his discomfort when Eric spoke again.

"Your ankle hurts a lot, huh?" Eric's voice held more than a trace of sympathy. "What did you do to it?"

"Twisted it chasing that shooter in South Beach yesterday. Stiffened up overnight."

Eric's eyebrows lifted. He turned from the steering wheel to grin at Ryan. "Natalia told Calleigh you tripped over the cat." Eric chuckled as Ryan turned several shades of red.

"Yeah," the younger man confirmed with an unhappy shake of the head. "That too."

Ryan closed his eyes. _It's no use_ , he thought unhappily. _There's no competing with Delko. I'll never win._

He had tried over the years, but Eric simply beat him in every category. The man was Horatio's pet. He always had a girl (or two) draped on each arm, and - with the exception of Delko's biological father - he had the kind of large, supportive, loving family that Ryan could only dream of.

 _Even getting shot in the eye with a nail can't complete with a bullet fragment in the brain_ , Ryan mused, feeling only slightly ridiculous for making such a comparison.

 _Eric wouldn't have finished off his ankle by falling over a cat. Oh, no. He would have found some more heroic way to injure himself - like saving a runaway baby carriage before it smacked into the side of a bus._

Ryan sighed and rubbed his eyes. It wasn't helping his mood any that he couldn't see very well. He fingered the contact lens case inside the pocket of his borrowed sweats. Maybe he could put his lenses in once he got to the hospital.

"Nice pants," Eric quipped, no doubt noticing the drips and drabs of paint on Nick's old gray sweats.

Ryan stared at him. "Do you have to be such an ass? Pull over and I'll call a cab." He turned away and squinted out the window, trying to figure out exactly where in Miami he was.

Eric sighed. "Sorry, man. Just trying to lighten the mood." He reached over and patted Ryan on the knee. Several things happened in sequence: a bloodcurdling shriek from Ryan at the unexpected pain this caused him, bilingual swearing and another apology from Eric, and a Hummer that jerked and swerved across the road until Eric brought it back under control.

Ryan glared at Eric. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

Eric looked back at him with feigned innocence. "No, but I'm doing a damn fine job," the Cuban deadpanned. He started laughing and soon Ryan joined in. The two men were still smiling when Eric pulled over to the curb in front of the Emergency Department.

"Thanks for getting me here mostly in one piece, Delko."

"Any time, Wolfe."


	4. Chapter 4

My thanks to Gooniegirl3333 for beta-reading and to CSIMiamiFAN, anitra mason 1, and Elvira25 for your comments on the last chapter. Any remaining errors are mine.

* * *

Natalia tried several keys on Ryan's key ring before she found the right two - lock and deadbolt - to open the door to his apartment. Calleigh followed her in. Massive bookshelves greeted them, dominating the small living room. The thick texts lining the shelves covered every scientific subject imaginable, from astronomy to zoology. A braided rag rug protected the glossy hardwood floor; framed art prints of modern sculpture and a few oil paintings of landscapes graced the walls. The leather armchair and sofa facing the big screen TV looked worn but comfy. Everything from the television remote to the coasters on the small wooden coffee table appeared to be precisely laid out. The only thing that seemed out of place was ...

"Aaaaah!" cried Natalia, eying a wire cage on a small table. It housed a small, frantic, black and white furry creature with a naked tail.

Ignoring her co-worker's outburst, Calleigh knelt down so that she was at eye level with the skittering animal. "Hey there, little guy. How're you?"

When the rat tipped its head to stare at the blond woman, Natalia had the oddest sensation that the animal was actually listening to her. Curiosity overcame fear as she studied their interaction.

"Looks like you've got enough water. But you could use some food, couldn't you, sweet baby?" Calleigh started to unfasten the lock to the cage.

"Calleigh!" Natalia's voice came out in a strangled sort of way. "Ryan said that we could just drop the food in."

The southern belle blinked her eyes in disbelief. "We can't just throw food at him and run off."

Natalia folded her arms. "Of course we can."

Calleigh turned back to the cage and opened the tiny door. The rat crawled up her sleeve. Even to Natalia's untrained eye, he seemed happier. "He's scared, Nat."

"So am I!" the brunette insisted. _The naked pink tail alone ... Ewww._

Calleigh smiled at her with a forced look of patience. "Go get Ryan's things together." As she turned back to the rat, her voice devolved into baby talk. "I'll just snuggle with this cute li'l guy right over here." The southern blond walked to the sofa and sat down with her new best friend. The rat immediately ran the rest of the way up her sleeve to perch on her shoulder. Natalia had a distinct impression that the small creature was mocking her.

The brunette shuddered and hurried down the hall to Ryan's bedroom. Like the rest of the small apartment, the room was very neat and filled with overflowing bookshelves. Glancing at the titles, she realized that this collection was all fiction, while the living room appeared to house non-fiction. A brief smile crossed her face as she wondered what Ryan would do if he found a detective novel shelved next to his zoology textbook.

Turning to his closet, she found the hangers color-coded, with clothes arranged by color within each hanger type. The effect gave three rainbows of items within his wardrobe. Red hangers appeared to signify formal work items - suit jackets, dress shirts, ties - while blue hangers clearly held leisure attire, such as sweatshirts and running pants. Green hangers, Natalia surmised, were pieces that could be either for business or casual wear. She collected most of Ryan's clothing from this category, careful not to include any sweater vests.

Socks, underwear, and night clothes were rolled in neat little coils inside several drawers in the closet. As Natalia gathered a few of each, she wondered if Ryan had consulted with a closet organizing company or if he had constructed the highly detailed built-in himself. Maybe he had chosen to rent this apartment expressly for the closet.

She chose him a pair of loafers, although Ryan only needed one shoe for the foreseeable future. Natalia giggled at the idea of presenting Ryan with a single shoe and immediately sobered at the thought. It really would send his OCD into overdrive.

On the nightstand, she found Ryan's glasses - tucked neatly inside a leather case - atop a small, worn King James Bible. Next to that, she found an equally weathered Tanakh with passages highlighted in Hebrew and fastidiously neat notes in the margins of the English translation. Shaking her head with a fond smile, Natalia gathered up both books, Ryan's glasses, and - after a quick glance in the nightstand's top drawer - a highlighter and a Hebrew dictionary, and added them to her stack.

She had just found an extra duffel in the closet and had begun packing Ryan's books and clothes when she heard Calleigh scream.

* * *

After procuring a wheelchair, Eric dropped Ryan off at the admission desk of the emergency department while he parked the Hummer. Ryan was not happy. He was now sitting uncomfortably in the lobby, ankle throbbing, scowling at pages of medical legalese because he damn well wasn't going to sign a document that he hadn't read. His eyes still itched and an intense pain was forming behind his right eye, just about where a nail had once entered his body, exactly where a small circular scar now lay. Recognizing the onset of a migraine, he massaged the orbital bones above his right eye with one hand while continuing to fill out paperwork with the other.

The longer Ryan sat alone, the harder it was to concentrate. _Why isn't Natalia here yet?_ he wondered. _What is she doing alone in my apartment with Calleigh?_ The very questions made him twitchy. Despite the fact that he trusted both of these women implicitly, he wasn't thrilled to have them wandering through his personal life without him.

* * *

At the exact moment Ryan wondered what his girlfriend was doing in his apartment, Natalia was creeping along the floor of her boyfriend's living room, holding a piece of plastic Tupperware in front of her like a weapon. "Here ratty, ratty. Here, boy." She glared at the other woman. "Tell me again why you had to take the rat out?"

The southern blond, of course, ignored her. "I'm going to try to lure him with food. When he comes out, you drop the plastic bowl over him, and then we'll transfer him back to the cage." She placed a few treats on the floor near her end of the couch.

But the rat emerged on Natalia's side, with his twitchy nose and beady eyes peering at her. "Aaaah!" she screamed, dropping the bowl and running.

The rat skittered back under the couch, naked tail and all.

Calleigh sighed.

* * *

Eric Delko glanced around the waiting room. Locating his colleague, he frowned at the younger man from a distance. Ryan had his hand over his right eye and appeared to be frowning at a clipboard of paperwork. The expression on his face caused Eric's heart to hammer, reminding him of Ryan's eye injury and his rocky convalescence from the nail gun attack. Ryan never spoke about it, but the near-permanent crease between his eyebrows led Eric to wonder what sort of residual damage might have been done to his eye. He knew the younger man had struggled early on with double vision - Ryan had helped him out on more than one occasion in solidarity when Eric's eyes were bothering him during his own recovery from a gunshot wound. And Ryan's very infrequent absences from work could be summed up in one word - migraines - something that hadn't seemed to plague him at all prior to suffering a nail in the eye.

Eric pushed down a rising sense of guilt and strode over to his co-worker. "Hey," he said as he took a seat next to Ryan. "You checked in?" Ryan looked up from his paperwork, startled. He blinked his right eye slowly open as Eric's frown deepened. "You all right?"

"Yeah."

Eric noticed that Ryan turned away as he spoke. _Why can't he ever just ask for help?_

Realizing that his colleague was nearly done filling out the stack of forms, he offered, "You want me to turn that in for you?" Ryan nodded and thrust the clipboard at Eric, who was more than happy to have something constructive to do.

Not long after, a nurse called Ryan back to the triage area. Eric wheeled Ryan in and waited for him at the nearest bench of chairs. He tried to study a recent automotive magazine but he couldn't concentrate. Waiting for Ryan reminded him of the time at the hospital after they took Ryan back for the nail extraction. Telling himself that this injury was minor by comparison and wasn't even his fault didn't hinder Delko's unease.

 _Damn Catholic guilt_ , he thought.

Instead, he found himself eavesdropping on Ryan's conversation with the nurse. From his vantage point, he couldn't hear Ryan's replies. But he could definitely hear the nurse's questions. After a lengthy discussion of Ryan's ankle, he heard a query that caught his attention.

"... So, on a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is the headache?"

Eric couldn't help but wonder what this had to do with Ryan's foot injury, although it confirmed his working theory that Ryan had another migraine.

"Do you have any other symptoms, such as double vision, numbness, or weakness?"

There was a pause in her dialogue as Ryan answered. Apparently, his response wasn't a simple no.

"Do you wear contacts or glasses, then? ... I think that's a good idea. You shouldn't wear your contacts until that irritation subsides ... I suspect an allergy, too, but as long as you're here, we'll let the doctors check you over ..."

Eric's head snapped up involuntarily. _Wolfe wears contacts? Since when?_ He had an uneasy feeling that he already knew the answer. Ryan's double vision had never really gone away. Delko's gaze dropped to the floor. _Damn. He never told me._

* * *

Calleigh and Natalia peered into Ryan's refrigerator, looking for anything delectable that night lure the rat out from under the sofa. Finding nothing but beer, a few pieces of fruit, and a freezer full of Lean Cuisines, Natalia suggested, "So, maybe we just poke under there with a coat hanger and scare him out?"

The blond woman frowned calmly at her. "That's just going to frighten him more." Her eyes narrowed as she surveyed the empty countertops of Ryan's kitchen, coming to rest on a small, neat line of cardboard tubes near the microwave oven. Most were the size of a roll of toilet paper, although a couple were as wide as a paper towel. "I've got it!" she exclaimed, snapping her fingers. She grabbed one of the larger tubes and ran into the living room.

Natalia followed reluctantly. "What're you doing?" She folded her arms and remained standing. Yes, she cared very deeply for Ryan, but she drew the line at touching a rat.

"Rodents like to tear up cardboard." Calleigh placed the tube so that one end was under the sofa and the other end fed into the Tupperware bowl. "I'm trusting that Ryan's been keeping these because his rat likes to chew on them. Don't you, boy?" she said, speaking to the sofa.

"Henry," Natalia supplied.

"Don't you, Henry?" Calleigh spoke in a soothing voice. Natalia heard a scratching sound and fought a wave of panic. Calleigh put a finger to her lips. "Henry is a good rat, aren't you, baby?"

Within minutes, the rat emerged in the bowl. Calleigh deftly scooped him up and deposited him in his cage. "Gotcha!" she replied, just as her phone sounded. She secured the latch of the cage before answering.

"Duquesne. Oh, sorry, Horatio. Eric and I went to lunch and lost track of time. We were discussing the Roberts case." She winked at Natalia. "You do? Okay, we'll be back as soon as possible." Calleigh ended the call and retrieved the slightly mangled cardboard tube from the floor. "You," she said, thrusting a finger at the rat, "owe me lunch." She pushed the cardboard tube through the slats of his cage.

Natalia ran back to Ryan's bedroom. "Let me grab his stuff, Cal, and we can get out of here."

While she was waiting, Calleigh whispered to Henry. "Now, be a good rat until Daddy comes home, okay? I promise to get the key from Natalia and come check on you until he's better, all right?"

The rat cocked his head and stared at her. Then he put one little pink paw up against the metal slats of the cage.

"I like you, too," she whispered.

Natalia, entering the room with Ryan's bag in tow, shivered. _Why does he have to own a rat,_ she wondered.


	5. Chapter 5

My thanks to Gooniegirl3333 for beta-reading and to CSIMiamiFAN and anitra mason 1 for your comments on the last chapter. I think this one wraps the story up, although I suspect I'll come back to this universe. Thanks for reading! :) P.S. I am not a doctor. If I have medically mistreated Ryan in this chapter, let me know in the comments. Thanks!

* * *

The nurse wheeled Ryan over to Eric with an apology to both men. "Radiology is backed up due to a collision in Sweetwater." She squeezed Ryan's shoulder. "Sorry for the wait. I promise we'll take you back as soon as possible." The woman gestured toward the waiting area and Eric guided Ryan's wheelchair in that direction.

Ryan winced and shifted position as soon as she was out of earshot. "This is taking forever," he muttered unhappily, rubbing his leg with a groan.

Eric maneuvered the chair so that they were on the far side of the lobby, facing a bank of windows, before dropping into a folding chair beside him. "Why do you always do that?"

"Do what?" Ryan frowned in Eric's direction.

The Cuban held up a hand. "Never mind."

"What?"

Delko sighed and folded his arms. He gave Ryan a small nod as he spoke. "You make it so hard for people to help you. You could've just told that nurse how bad you were hurting instead of saying you were a two or three on the pain scale and acting like it was okay. She would have given you something for the pain." He shook his head, a mixture of pity and sympathy crossing his strong features. "You never ask for help when you really need it."

There was a long pause as Ryan glowered at Eric like a smoldering fire. "You were spying on me?" he accused. There was more than a trace of incredulity in his tone.

Eric looked away guiltily. "Not on purpose."

Ryan closed his eyes and used his thumb to rub small circles around the scar above his right eye. There was a long, painful silence during which both men fidgeted unhappily and neither spoke. Finally, Ryan broke the tension. "I could use an ice pack," he admitted in a quiet voice.

"Done."

As Eric jumped up to help, the younger man cracked his eyes open to slits. "Maybe two? One for my head and one for my leg?"

Delko strode into the triage area the minute the doors had opened to admit another patient, despite the protests of several nurses. Now that his friend had finally confessed he needed help, by God, he was going to get it. He soon returned to find Ryan slumped over even further in the wheelchair, eyes shut tight, face ashen, looking absolutely miserable. His hair stuck out at odd angles, as if Ryan had literally been attempting to pull it out in frustration.

Remembering his gaffe earlier, Eric refrained from patting Ryan on the knee. "Here," he said loudly to announce his return. As soon as Ryan had peeked open an eye, he waved the ice packs. "I brought you something."

* * *

When Natalia and Calleigh entered the emergency room waiting area fifteen minutes later, they found Eric alone, staring absently out the window.

Natalia reached him first. "Where is he?" she demanded.

At her heels, Calleigh added, "Hey Eric, how's it going?"

Eric held up two hands. "I don't know anything. They took him back for X-rays about ten minutes ago." He focused on Natalia. "He's hurting pretty bad."

She frowned and folded her arms. "Can I go back and see him?"

"You can try, but I don't think he has a room yet."

Calleigh gave the brunette a hug. "Call us if you need anything. Horatio's got a lead on that Roberts case and we've got to get going. But I'll be home tonight."

Natalia nodded, her forehead crinkled with worry. "Okay."

"Do you want me to say something to Horatio?" Calleigh's eyes were kind as she held Natalia's arms in hers. "You're both scheduled to work tomorrow, right?"

Nodding, Natalia chewed her lip. "I ... I'm not sure ..."

"Call me and tell me what the doctor says," Calleigh interrupted, as Eric tugged at her arm and gestured about the time. "I'll give Horatio a heads up that Ryan's hurt and you're helping him out today."

"Okay."

As soon as they had left, Natalia walked up to the admitting desk. "I'm here for Ryan Wolfe."

The heavy-set desk clerk gave her a kind smile and a visitor's sticker. "Room 5A."

The doors clicked open and Natalia entered the patient care unit of the emergency wing. A baby squalled to her right; there was a couple arguing in the room directly front of her. Natalia wondered how the hospital staff could work with so much chaos going on, but decided it must be something they got used to. She tried to ignore the cries of an elderly man seeking pain relief as she walked down the corridor.

Peeking into Ryan's dimly lit room, Natalia half-expected to find it empty. But a pair of blood-shot hazel eyes blinked back at her.

"Hey," Ryan rasped. "You found me." His words were tinged with relief.

"Why are you sitting here in the dark?" She inched toward him, unsure of what was going on and not wanting to make things any worse.

"Migraine." He reached out to her. "Come here. You're not going to make it any worse."

She laughed then - he had practically read her mind - and sat next to him on the bed. "What did they say about your leg?"

"Radiology's still looking at the X-rays." He nuzzled the side of her cheek. "I missed you."

She wrapped her arms around him, her eyes unexpectedly filling with tears. Too many times, she had sat alone like this in the ER after a fight with Nick and no one had ever come to console her. A rogue tear leaked out and dripped onto Ryan's arm.

"Talia?" he said softly, pulling away. "What's wrong?"

She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. "It's nothing, really." She waved a hand. "I'm fine." He grabbed her roving hand and held it, stroking her fingers, which only made her cry harder. "I'm sorry, Ry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

He wrapped his strong arms around her and began to rock her. "Shh. It's okay, Talia. It's over now. He's never going to hurt you again."

Feeling incredible relief that Ryan understood without her having to explain, Natalia relaxed into her boyfriend's arms. He stroked her hair and planted small kisses on the top of her head. "I love you, Talia," he murmured, so softly that Natalia wasn't sure if she'd heard him correctly.

There was a knock at the door. "Mr. Wolfe? I'm Doctor Zahre. Mind if I turn up the lights a bit?"

Natalia wondered what the woman thought as the doctor brought up the light level in the room, seeing the two of them sitting so close together, her own face streaked with tears. She looked the other way and wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist.

The doctor shook Ryan's hand. "I have a copy of your X-rays here. You're going to need to take these to the orthopedist in a few days, when the swelling goes down."

Ryan blinked and squinted at the woman, and Natalia belatedly remembered that she had brought his glasses with her. She reached into her purse, dug around, and handed him a leather case. Ryan gave Natalia a brief smile as he put his glasses on. Then he handed over the empty case and focused his attention back on the doctor. "So, I broke my leg?"

"It's difficult to tell right now due to the swelling. You definitely have a severe sprain. But you may also have a hairline fracture that we can't see. Treatment for the next few days is the same regardless: rest, ice, compression, elevate." She handed him several slips of paper. Holding up the first, she said, "Make sure that you take this with food. It's a moderate pain reliever. It should help with your headache, too, although I recommend that you follow up with a neurologist for further assessment of your migraines." Natalia glanced at the other two scripts - an order for crutches and prescription eye drops. "Stay off of your foot for the next few days, until you see the orthopedist. Do you need a note for work?" Ryan nodded. "All right then, Mr. Wolfe." The doctor smiled. "A nurse will be in soon to wrap your ankle and then you should receive your discharge papers. Do you have any questions?"

 _Only one_ , Natalia thought, looking at Ryan - a bespectacled rat owner with pink eyes, wild hair, mismatched clothes, and a badly swollen ankle. _How did I ever find such a wonderful boyfriend?_


End file.
